First State Ballet Theatre premieres A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM at The Grand this weekend

Wednesday

Apr 10, 2013 at 9:02 AM

Greer Firestone

First State Ballet Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s classic comedy, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which debuts April 13, 2013 in Copeland Hall at the Grand Opera House, will be the first performance of the ballet in Delaware history. Artistic Director Pasha Kambalov chose FSBT dancer and choreographer Alex Buckner to create the new work.

Buckner said, “I was very excited when Pasha asked me to choreograph ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’ This is the biggest undertaking of career.

“I was lucky in preparing “Midsummer” because the Delaware Shakespeare Festival hired me to create dances for some of the actors in their production of the drama last summer.

“I started to prepare by thinking about music. The score by Felix Mendelsohn forms the basis of the ballet, but I had to choose additional music for short transitional scenes. A friend who’s a DJ offered several great suggestions. The music is mostly traditional, but we’re also using some edgy contemporary music where I needed it to carry the action.

“I began developing the actual choreography by myself and have been working with the dancers in the studio seeing how it works on them and what they can add to my ideas.

“The crux of the comedy—and the play is very amusing and entertaining—is the struggles people sometimes experience in finding the person they’re meant to love. Each dancer has to use movement and mime to express his or her thoughts and feelings of love, hate, confusion, obsession, disagreement, and finally, discovery of the person they’re destined to be with.”

Robert Grenfell, FSBT’s president and executive director said, “Our ‘Midsummer’ premiere continues our strategy of introducing our audience to a new ballet every spring. From what I’ve seen in rehearsals, this production will be one of the most beautiful and moving we have ever presented. Alex’s choreography is clear, elegant, empathetic and, above all, entertaining and ranges from rollicking exuberance to piquant humor to heart-melting beauty.

New costumes for the premiere are being designed and created by FSBT’s costumier in Chisinau, Moldova in Eastern Europe

Grand Opera House Saturday, April 13 @ 7:00 p.m. Sunday, April 14 @ 2:00 p.m. ** Tickets for all Grand Opera House shows are adults $28.00 to $48.00, students 18 and under 50 percent of adult price, seniors and groups $5.00 discount. Discounts not available online. 1-800-37-GRAND www.ticketsatthegrand.org